General History of the Science and Practice of Music, Vol. 4 (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from General History of the Science and Practice of Music, Vol. 4Against this opinion, which has nothing to support it but vulgar tradition, it may be urged that David Ricci was not a composer of any kind. The historians and others who speck of him represent him as a lutenist and singer; and Sir James Melvil, who was personally acquainted with him, vouchsafes him no higher a character than that of a merry fellow, and a good musician. 'Her majesty,' says he, 'had three valets of her chamber, who sung three parts, and wanted 'a bass to sing the fourth part. Therefore they told her majesty of 'this man, as one fit to make the fourth in concert. Thus was he 'French secretary retired himself to France, this David obtained the 'same office.'Melvil, in the course of his Memoirs, relates that Ricci engrossed the favour of the queen; that he was suspected to be a pensioner of pope; and that by the part he took in all public transactions, he gave rise to the troubles of Scotland, and precipitated the ruin of his mistress.Buchanan is somewhat more particular; the account he gives is that Ricci was born at Turin; that his father, an honest but poor man, got a mean livelihood by teaching young people the rudiments of music. That having no patrimony to leave them, he instructed his children of both sexes in music, and amongst the rest his son Divid, who being in the prime of his youth, and having a good voice, gave hopes of his succeeding in that profession. That with a view to advance his fortune, Ricci went to the court of the duke of Savoy, then at Nice; but meeting with no encouragement there, found means to get himself admitted into the train of the Count de Moretto, then upon the point of setting out on an embassy to Scotland. That the Count, soon after his arrival in Scotland, having no employment for Ricci, dismissed him.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.